Paula Deen to Visit Ala. for Hospital Fund-raiser

Paula Deen is set to visit an Alabama hospital. Her appearance comes more than a month after controversy arose over comments Deen made in a court case.

Chia Chong

Celebrity chef Paula Deen is planning to visit a hospital in an Alabama town to help raise money for a hospital and its foundation.

Deen is set to appear at an Aug. 29 ceremony at the Ozark Civic Center in honor of longtime Ozark physician Connie Chandler.

Event coordinator Jenny Tidmore said Deen and Chandler are friends, are Deen agreed in January to attend the event.

Tidmore tells The Dothan Eagle (http://bit.ly/13co3K9) that Deen will entertain the audience "by being her witty, Southern, charming self."

In recent weeks, controversy over comments Deen made in a court case have left her network of business deals in shambles. Her troubles began within days of the public disclosure of a legal deposition, in which Deen admitted to having used the N-word to describe black people.